First post.

First, I want to start by saying I totally rock at starting stuff, and I totally suck at upkeeping it. You HAVE been warned.

At anyrate some of you know me, some of you don't so I suppose a precautionary introduction is in order. I an Jennifer, most people just call me Jen. I am a 24 year old stay at home mom, and I am also a full time student with the University of Phoenix online. My family is a little more than strange to most. I mean the gas passing contests to see who can run the rest of the family out of the room are one thing, our family structure is another.

My husband, my 2 daughters, my dad, my brother, and myself share a house. Most people would think this ie either a little more than strange, or that we were having financial troubles. This is not the case. (Well okay, we are a lot strange but thats beside the point.) This is a voluntary situation. You see, about this time last year after deep debate over the economy and the good old days, we decided our family would work best together. I mean seriously, what ever happened to the days when your kids stuck around the family homestead with their spouse and children and we all worked together? That's what we are achieving here.

We share everything, including a family bank account and the responsibility of balancing it. We work together on everything (or try anyway) to keep our family comfortable. My girls love having Papaw and Uncle Chip around all the time. Everything just seems... happier... easier. Not to say we don't have our catfights and disagreements much like any other family.

Currently, we are expecting our third child (5th grandchild). We are in the process of a major undertaking here. The expecting status of this baby means we have got to get our home presentable for selling next year. We have converted the garage into a Man Cave/ Mother-in-law suite, we're cleaning up the yard, decluttering for the move, hopefully painting and replacing floor covering, and updating appliances. All in the hopes of getting a good price for our home next year so we can build an appropriately sized house for our family.

In addition to house stuff, the need for a bigger car has become more urgent. Considering my rear grows exponentially by the year, I haven't got much time left where I will fit between two carseats in the back, and even then we are short one seat for our current family size, and two when the baby comes. The need for a minivan is immenent, no matter how much denial we may be in. RIP my husbands manhood, I promise to at least pick out a manly color.

So there it is, I present to you... My family. We're not perfect, not even close. But we love eachother, and work everyday to maintain our structure. Some days are better than others, sometimes I want to pull my hair out. I wouldn't have it any other way though.